Cat turns up 70 miles from Staffordshire home in Southport

Millie had not been outside before her owner bought her in December

A cat missing for three days has been found 70 miles away from her home.

Tracy Dean said her cat Millie had not previously been "an outdoor cat", but had developed "a taste for the outdoors".

She said the tabby "scarpered" from her home in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire almost a fortnight ago.

Three days later, Ms Dean said she was "stunned" to get a call from a vet in Southport saying Millie had turned up.

"I put some food outside the front door and knowing that she'd never been out I thought she'd be under a bush or something," she said.

• Latest news from the West Midlands

"Two, three days of looking for her, I had some friends going out on the streets, I started getting concerned I'm not going to see her again, it was dreadful weather, pouring down with rain."

Thanks to a microchip, the pair were emotionally reunited after a vet in Southport scanned Millie.

Ms Dean said it was unclear how she managed to travel so far, but may have climbed into a vehicle or even under a wheel arch.

"When I picked her up I wanted her to recognise me and come bounding up to me... but she did none of that. She just looked at me as if to say 'where have you been?'"